Extended Requests From 106 Ways
by Readergirl37
Summary: What the title says. Sequel/continuation of sorts.
1. ch 35

AN: Song for this chapter is: Stressed Out. Requested by Siberia21, based off chapter 35.

* * *

He's carefully watching her reaction, and isn't disappointed.

"Elijah-this is amazing." She breathes, the sheer history that's taken place in this castle is enough to take her undead breath away, but the fact they're going to walk around in it-is breathtaking. He's never seen this much wonder in her face before. She's smiling like he just bought her the world.

"So we can just-walk in?" She asks. He nods in confirmation.

"After you." He says and she lets out a laugh. Of course.

* * *

So she walks, careful to take light steps. This castle has existed for hundred of years, has hosted king and queens and royalty.

He carefully begins to tell her a story, his voice is slow, and calm, of the times he had in the castle. When they reach the top of steps, she looks at him with wonder.

"You were here?" She asks, her voice is filled with it too, he notes.

"Indeed." He remarks, and her face shifts.

"If you're telling the truth, give me a tour." She challenges, her eyes bright.

He fakes offense, his hand on his chest.

"I am offended, lovely Elena. Are you suggesting that I am a liar?" He jokes and she laughs, it echoes with ancient stone amplifying the noise.

"Of course not." She assures him. He feels a grin coming on as she follows him through all of the rooms. She marvels at everything, it's refreshing. He lets the grin appear when she admits that he had spent time there. Or-she counters, he did extensive research. He laughs, and she smiles at him. It's perfect. He decides to rework their schedule. If every castle makes her this happy, he'll take her to every one possible.


	2. ch 36

AN: Another request by Siberia21

* * *

It's odd, unpacking without Elijah. The first thing she does is set up her laptop and wifi, she's already set up internet and started paying for it here a few weeks ago. She video calls him as soon as possible, and he answers.

"Hey." She sounds tired, it goes so much slower without him.

"How are you?" He asks.

"Tired." She answers honestly, and turns around to continue unpacking. He sees her moving in and out of the camera's view for the next few hours as they talk. She's done by then, and she gives him a tour of the little apartment she's going to live in. She sits on her bed, and he promises to visit her after her first day of classes. She groans, that's two days away and she could use some Original level calm in her life. He smirks, and he can't resist teasing her.

"You miss me already?"

"Shut up. You know I do. I bet you miss me too." She says, and she's right. It just takes her a few minutes to prove she's right. He would have admitted it, but it's always fun to joke with her, so he does.

"What if someone breaks in?" She asks. He rolls his eyes.

"You're a vampire. You have the advantage." He reminds her.

"But what about vampire hunters?" She asks.

"You'll hear them first. You're a light sleeper." He assures her, although anxiety is creeping into his mind. Just a little. He suggests she get a roommate. She agrees, she's not picky at all, someone else would help her feel less alone. There is an empty bedroom she was planning to have as a guest room anyway. She might as well. She tells him that she'll put up an ad in the morning. She disappears out of his sight for a few moments, and returns. They talk until she falls asleep, and he leaves the call open as he does the same, at his desk. It's the most he's been at ease since she's left.

* * *

She wakes up to Elijah's face against a book, not for the first time. It's just the first time they've been separated by so many miles. It's the first time she hasn't been able to carefully save the book and put a pillow under his face. He always let her was the weird part to her. He'd open an eye to confirm it was her, and close it, and let her do whatever she was doing. She had seen him break bones for others touching him. She has power, power others don't have, and could never attain. The thought is odd.

"Elijah." She says, quietly. He'll wake up.

"Elijah." She draws it out, like does with her name. She tastes every syllable of his name as she spends exactly two minutes and forty three seconds trying to wake him.

"Hmmm?" He groans.

"I have to go out and do things. You need to finish your paper on Roman kings for that professor you turned." She reminds him, and he lifts his head.

"Thank you for the reminder. I don't want to lecture in a few hours." He complains, he's like this before he puts on a suit, he's more open.

She laughs, quietly.

"Good luck." She says and he nods before returning his head to the book.

She ends the video call.

* * *

She gets a roommate while at the grocery store, a college student who's in a few of her future classes. Elena takes her home to show her the apartment, texting Elijah as she does.

Elena tells her that rent would be splitting the utilities and groceries. That's it. The roommate looks like she's her age but she isn't as old as Elena, and it takes Elena a moment to remember. She squeals, and hugs Elena, relieved. She thanks her, and Elena offers to help her move in. Her new roommate, her name is Cass-doesn't have much to move. Her previous apartment turned out to be a nightmare. The roommate had forgotten to mention she had cats. Cass was super allergic. Elena assures her she doesn't have any pets, nor does she ever plan to have any. Their apartment complex doesn't allow pets anyway. She tells her that she'll deal with the paperwork if Cass gets dinner. Elena gives her a twenty, and the spare key in the apartment. She wants blood out of the fridge in her room, moved to her closet with Cass around but she walks to the management building anyway, Cass in front of her.

* * *

She fills out the paperwork in record time, knowing that Cass will need to invite her in now. So she waits at their front door. She doesn't like lying, but she'll need to compel Cass for this to work. It's a stupid move to try and tiptoe around it.

Cass arrives a few minutes later, pizza in her arms.

"I didn't know what you wanted, so I just got cheese." She says, and Elena smiles at her. She stares into her eyes.

"I need you to do me a favor. Give me the pizza, unlock the door and invite me in." She says and Cass nods. She does as Elena instructed, and she feels bad for a moment, but she had to.

They eat pizza and Elena compels her to not see when Elena's drinking blood, not to invite strangers in, and to not speak of any of the compulsion Elena has on her. When this is over, and they move on, Elena promises to herself that she'll erase the memories of that, and give her a normal life. Until then, she lived with a vampire roommate and the things that came with it. She videocalls Elijah again, and they talk until she falls asleep first. He's already reminded her that he'll be there, in the afternoon and she has classes tomorrow. He leaves the call on, and sets an alarm. It'll remind him to wake her up. Or, hopefully just wake her up. He's not picky.

* * *

A beeping noise wakes her up, and she groans at Elijah to turn it off. She almost is confused by her surroundings, but remembers as she opens her eyes. She is right about the source of noise, however, and he's already dressed and reminding her that he'll be there in the afternoon, and her first class is in an hour. She swears and tells him she'll see him then.

She wakes up Cass, and when she's sure the human is up, she gets blood, she's hungry. She takes a quick shower and gets her things, Cass is ready when she reaches the door. She offers to drive them both to campus, no point in wasting gas. Cass accepts, still a little apprehensive. She's too trusting, it bothers Elena a little. She used to be like that.

Classes pass, some slowly and others way too quickly-she's looking forward to the end of the day, she's first out of the last class of the day-she's the first one out of the door, eager to get home. Elijah's probably waiting, but something catches her eye. A suit. It's Elijah, standing there with that smug look on his face. She hugs him tightly, and people filter out, including Cass.

* * *

"Elena?" She asks hesitantly. She breaks the hug to look at her roommate.

"Cass! Hey, this is my friend, Elijah." Cass looks at her, and then at Elijah, and squints for a moment.

"Can you excuse us for a moment?" She asks Elijah. He agrees, knowing that no matter how far the human tries to take Elena away, he'll hear their conversation.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Cass asks bluntly and Elena assures her he isn't. The human then asks if he's available because he's hot and if he lives close by. Elena says he's unavailable, and he lives a state away.

"Oh." Cass sounds disappointed.

"How long have you known him?"

"Since my junior year of high school." Elena says truthfully. Cas stares at her for a moment.

"Is that relationship he's in serious? Because he looks at you like you're a piece of art and he's an art historian." _Like you're something that beautiful_ , Cass wants to add, but refrains. Elena is that pretty, she'll admit.

"We're just friends, Cass." Elena assures her again, and they come back into view. He wonders if he's that obvious about his affections for Elena.

* * *

Cass invites Elijah in, with no compulsion needed. Elijah follows her to her room, and sits on her sofa as she goes to the closet to give him a blood bag. They talk for hours, and he helps her with some of her more boring homework. No classes the next day, and she doesn't want to be clingy, but he tells her that he had planned to stay until Sunday night. He has a hotel room, he tells her as he yawns. She tells him it's fine for him to crash on her couch, and she's out.

* * *

Their schedule is like this. He comes when he can, and they video call almost every day, but the times of day that he used to fill are so vacant, and they're a month away from graduating before Cas finally snaps. Sweet, trusting human Cass yells that she needs to tell Elijah how she feels because it's obvious she's in love with him and life is too short to be in that deep of denial.

 _Oh Cass, Elena wants to say. He's centuries old. I'm decades older than you. I can stay in denial for a very long time._ She doesn't. She tells Cass that he hasn't been in a relationship in a long time, neither has she. The human tells her that's a part of being in love. You figure it out together. She tells Elena she can stay in denial, but she wants her roommate to be happy.

Elijah's coming the next day. She promises the human she'll give it serious thought. And she does, he can't call her. Usually it's the sign of a likely bad day, but it's nice. Elijah sees through her like she's transparent most days.

* * *

He's sprawled out on her couch when she gets home the next day.

"Elijah." Her voice is soft, and fragile and hesitant.

"Are you alright?" He looks her over, to see, and she bites her lip.

"I have something to tell you." She admits and he fears the worst.

 _Deep breath, Elena._ She tells herself.

"I'm-I'm in love with you." She confesses, it spills out like blood, it's just as messy, she thinks. And then his eyes are softer than she's ever seen.

"Truly?" He asks. His voice is softer than his eyes.

"Yes." She confirms and he has her against the wall, his body pressing into hers. He gives the perfect first kiss, and they kiss for a few minutes, and when his lips move to her neck, she awkwardly searches for her doorknob for a few seconds before she locks her door.

* * *

It's not the first time he's woken up next to her, but it is the first time he's woken up next to her with his suit scattered around her room.

He could get used to it, he thinks.


	3. ch 44

AN: Another request by Siberia21. Chapter forty four.

* * *

It's a little tense after he takes her home from the hospital. He's forgotten how fragile she is, and she does all she can to prove she isn't fragile because she doesn't want to be treated like she's glass. They're both relieved and worried when his blood is out of her system. If she dies, for any reason, she's gone. She spends hours writing in her diary, a habit she could never kick. He's just worried, she thinks. But she's in her room and he's in his, having a great moral debate.

The tension grows when the doorbell rings as she's cutting up some fruit, she cuts her hand, and this hurts. A lot. Her breathing quickens, it's so deep that she's horrified. She's frozen, she can't look away from it. He offers his blood in seconds, and she takes it, he's never felt such relief at someone drinking from him. But it's Elena, so there's a first time for everything. He watches the cut disappear as she does. He opens the door, and the person looks at both of them.

"Is everything okay?" Caroline asks, and Elena grins and hugs her, Elijah must have invited her over. He tells Elena happy early, birthday, Caroline and Bonnie are having a party for her in a few days. She smiles and hugs Elijah briefly. Then she goes back to hugging Caroline, who sends him questioning looks from over Elena's shoulder. He tells her in gestures, and she nods. She tells Elena that they're taking her out for some fun, Bonnie is in the car with a surprise. Elena looks at Elijah who just grins at her. If it's fine with him, then-she lets herself get led out of his apartment.

* * *

He can't ask Elena to turn. It's her decision. The idea of her dying, either soon or decades from now makes him want to break something. But as a vampire, she can't have children. She can't grow old. Does she want those things? They've never talked about it, because they've never talked about her turning. It's unlikely. Elijah wonders what he'll be like, here in this apartment with his grief. Just a few decades. She might have even less than that, she could die in an accident. Car crash, a fall, an accidental shooting. There's _so many ways_ humans can die.

* * *

Caroline can't think of what to call him, other than _wrecked_. Elena is sleeping when he opens the door for them. She tucks Elena in, taking off her flats. She hands Elijah Elena's phone and he plugs it in to charge. Caroline pulls the covers up. It's not the first time they've done this. There's two deadly immortals watching a human sleeping, knowing they'd do anything to keep her safe. He wonders if her thoughts are near his, and she leaves the room first. He shuts the door, quietly. She follows him to the living room.

"Caroline, I need to ask you something." He begins. She sighs, and sits on Elena's favorite couch. He sits next to her.

"Has Elena ever expressed any interest in becoming a vampire?" The question slips out, and he's glad one of Elena's best friends is a vampire. He's friends with Caroline, she'll be honest.

"Your blood is in her system." She says, and it's not a question. She wants him to explain.

"She cut her hand, deeply when you rang the doorbell. I gave her blood, it wasn't practical to let it heal at a human pace." He informs her and she nods.

"She asked me about it when we were walking to the car. I think she's interested in it." Caroline says, and he relaxes. There's hope.

"Thank goodness." He says, and Caroline nods.

"I don't want to lose her either." She admits.

"It was nice talking to you. I have to go, Bonnie's waiting for me." She excuses herself. She's gone in seconds.

Elena's asking questions, it's a good sign. He sleeps better that night, for the first time since she went to the hospital.

* * *

While Caroline had told him of her interest and questions, he wasn't expecting one at breakfast. Three, actually, but he's still in slight shock from the first. She wants to see his vampire face, as she calls it.

It's a personal thing to ask of him, he wonders if she knows that. He hasn't shown it in decades, at least.

But he parts his lips, and closes his eyes, and lets it come. He opens his eyes, staring at her with curiosity.

She traps him against the counter, inches separating them. He wouldn't leave, even if he was sure he could.

It takes her breath away. It's odd to call it beautiful, but that's what it is, he's a beautiful, deadly vampire.

"Does it hurt to vamp out?" She asks. He shakes his head. He blinks for a second, and she's in his space, carefully touching the veins under his eyes. She's gentle, and anyone else would be dead for invading his space and touching him. But Elena's always been an exception.  
"It's so odd to see you like this." She admits, and he resists the urge to close his eyes. He wants to see her.

"What's your next question?" He asks, and she stares at his teeth. Or maybe she's just staring at his lips. He wants to kiss her, fangs and all, he refrains. She's human. He shouldn't sway her, even though _he so badly wants to._

She asks about bloodlust and how much time it takes to get adjusted. He answers, and she takes her hand off his face a few seconds after his face returns to the human features he was born with. He thinks she rubbed her thumb against his skin, but that train of thought is distracting so he lets it go.

When he asks if she has any other questions, she shakes her head and says she has to go to the library. She moves quickly, out in a minute.

He wonders if he swayed her at all.

* * *

It's been two weeks since she invaded his space, and she wants to ask, she wants to ask him so badly, but it doesn't slip out until she has some liquid courage in her system, courtesy of Caroline.

"If I wanted to die, would you let me? Or would you turn me?" She asks, she's not drunk, just a little tipsy. Her verbal filter isn't as fine. He answers that she would support whatever decision she wanted.

She then asks, to his disbelief, if he'd turn her. Right then.

"Elena, you're buzzed. You might not mean these words in the morning, however true they seem now." He warns. She shakes her head.

"I don't see anything I want from being human." She says truthfully.

"I don't want children. Jeremy doesn't either. The Petrova line ends with us. I can't let another doppelganger be born. She'll be hunted, Elijah. Just like I was. Trapped. I can't let anyone do that to anyone. It's better. I stopped wanting children after I realized they'd never be safe. And I don't want to hang out with Caroline, and have people ask if I'm her mother. I want this. I've wanted this for a while." She confesses. She's not lying, but there's something else she's not telling him. She's making her I'm Trying To Withhold Information Face, as Caroline calls it.

"Why else?" He presses. He knows he should just stop, humans are fragile, if he presses too hard then thing break, but he needs to know.

She shakes her head.

"It's not that relevant." She dismisses.

"Tell me anyway." It's a request and demand in one. She's the only one who gets the requesting tone.

"No it's stupid and personal and you're just going to make fun of me." She tells him, leaning against a wall for support. He frowns, wondering why she would think that.

"When have I ever made fun of you?" He asks. She tries to think, her memories are too scattered to scan through.

"It's going to ruin things if I tell you." She tells him, and she just made it worse because now she has his complete and full attention.

"Tell me, lovely Elena." He repeats, moving closer. She doesn't speak until there's a few inches left, he's not going to cross that barrier. It's the opposite of when she trapped him against his kitchen counter. She blurts it, tired and she wants to confess it.

"I'm in love with you and I don't want to look older than you." She admits and he freezes.

* * *

"Elijah?" She asks, reaching a hand out to touch his face. He pulls her closer and kisses her. She gasps and she's pressed against his wall. It's not until he moves his focus to her neck that he confesses his love for her, and she's almost disappointed that he's only biting at her with human teeth, but she stops caring, and they somehow make it to his room.

* * *

When the morning comes, she's sprawled on top of him, not that he minds.

"Morning." He drawls, his hands on her waist.

"Morning." She greets, stretching.

He's about to kiss her when she moves, off of him and out of his bed. She apologizes, and pecks him on the cheek. She just need a minute.

She comes back with her phone plugged in, in her room. Her human needs have been dealt with, and she kisses him like it was ages she was gone, like empires and people had fallen in her absence.

* * *

After a late breakfast, he tells her that if she does want to be a vampire, he will turn her. She doesn't want it that day, she proposes a week from then. He agrees, although having a smiling Elena on top of him could make him agree to all kind of things, if she felt so inclined.

She asks him to drink from her when they're still in bed, that afternoon. She takes his blood to heal it, and she's tired, and tells him so.

"It's probably just a human thing." She says, yawning. He agrees, but he falls asleep a few minutes afterwards.

* * *

When she wakes up, the next morning, she gets out of his bed, and leaves him a note that she's either taking a shower or going out for groceries. He's still sleeping, peaceful when she leaves. She knows she won't need human food for much longer, but her stomach insists on it. She drives, careful as ever to not hit anything, she loves her car too much. But she's trapped when all of the lanes are full and there's a car that doesn't look like it's going to stop, it looks far off but it won't be.

She calls Elijah, she's full of panic and she's going to die.

He answers to hear her swearing and a horrible noise, and he neck breaking.

* * *

His heart drops, and he almost considers turning off his emotions when he remembers she had his blood. She'd turn. He puts on a suit in record time, and grabs his car keys. He rushes to where she is, he can see the pile up. He wants to take the heart of the man who killed her, but he was having a heart attack while he was driving. Not his fault. He pretends to struggle with Elena's door, cutting his hands in the process, but he breaks it and opens it.

He rips off her seat belt, and _her neck_. A few of her ribs too, by the looks of it. She's bloody and she almost looks like she's sleeping. He pockets her phone. A few people try to stop him, but he compels them, saying he's a doctor and he's her partner, and they are not going to try and stop him. She'll be fine, he assures them, and he's compelled every single person who can see her in his passenger seat or saw the accident. He calls someone to take her car to a scrap yard, it's not salvageable. She didn't have anything in it anyway. He drives her home, and he can hear her neck healing as he drives. He carries her, so carefully. He wants to blame himself, but she could have died from anything, human death was so easy to reach.

* * *

She wakes up, gasping for air, clinging to him.

"I died again." She says, and he rubs circles on her back as she cries, a mixture of relief and pain, her ribs aren't completely healed yet, but the need to have Elijah close trumps the minor pain.

* * *

When she's calmed down, she drinks from a blood bag and he calls Caroline. They're ahead of schedule.


	4. ch 55

AN: Request from Siberia21, I hope you like where I went with this one. Also sorry this is so late.

* * *

She falls asleep against him, and he adjusts the blanket covering her when she shifts. He debates sending his brother to deal with the witch. He did not have any attachment or use for Elena after Elijah had told him that Elena was under his protection-not a single hair on her head was to be harmed. No forced blood withdrawal. But, he did enjoy making a point, and teaching lessons. It's something he'll ask Elena about, later. He realizes that his couch is not comfortable enough for either of them to be there for hours, after a few minutes.

He picks her up and carries her to his bedroom. His bed is bigger. If she wants space from him, it'll be easier to give it. She opens one of her eyes, awake at the movement, but she shuts it after a few seconds.

She trusts him, he's known that for a few years, but she always shows in the simplest ways. No extravagant assurances or acts, just being herself.

She still wants to stay close. So he takes off his shoes and lets her do whatever she wants. She ends up next to him, she doesn't ever completely take up his space. He'd let her, if she so desired it.

* * *

He confesses his love, in a murmur she won't hear, she's asleep or very close to it. It's not all of the weight off his chest, but it does help. It's not the first time he's admitted aloud to her. She's soft and sleeping against him, and he hasn't slept in two days. He wouldn't mind some sleep, he wouldn't sleep until she was okay, he never could.

He drifts off to the world of dreams.

* * *

He loves her back? She sleepily muses. She wonders if that's the reason he lets her get away with so much, including her little pranks, like switching his coffee to decaf one day. She wonders if he has any idea of her feelings, her heartbeat has to give her away at some point. There's no way he _doesn't_ know. She might ask him about it, soon.

She's still healing, she felt like she took too much blood, but Elijah let her take what she wanted-she doesn't know he'd let her drain him dry if it made her happy. The feeling of her lips on his skin would be an added bonus.

She shifts, and he wakes up.

"Elena?" He murmurs, if she had a nightmare he could help her, and that where he think the conversation is going to go. He's wrong.

"I'm in love you too." She admits, before her breathing evens out, and she's asleep. He wonders what he should do.

* * *

He could tell her in the morning that she talked in her sleep, but he's wanted Elena to know for quite some time. He just never expected her to be in love with him as well. She's human and she deserves a shot at the human experience, if she wants it. But she hasn't, he reflects. She lives with him. Her best friends are a vampire and a very successful witch. She's never thrown herself into doing human things. She has to make the decision, but he thinks she'd make a good vampire. With that, her arm moves over his torso, and he decides to sleep on it.


	5. ch 70

AN: Another request from the lovely Siberia21, I'm going in chapter order,

also Angela, I'm down with the coma fic, it might be a few days until I can start, I need to do two more of these and wrap up North Star. Don't push yourself, focus on getting better. Heroine will likely be an open fic for a while, guys. If you have any suggestions for heroines you want to see, let me know!

The first song mentioned in this chapter is Oceans by Seafret, the next is Consequence by the Notwist. It doesn't matter if you listen to them, but it does help.

* * *

After the heating gets fixed, Elena visits him less often. It's not a big deal, except her habit of being closer is recent. He wonders what he did. Or if she just needs her space. He doesn't ask about it, if she wants him to know, she'll tell him. She does come in, a month later when it's storming, it's so intense that the house feels like it's shaking. It's not, but it's enough to have her seek his company. He sees her rub the sleep out of her eyes singlehandedly, a book in the other while standing in his doorway.

"Can I stay with you until the storm's over?" She asks, and he nods.

"Of course." She's welcome to come and go as she wants. So he moves a book that's on what he refers to as her side to his nightstand and she slips under the covers, and sits a little more relaxed than he is.

She wishes she could play music to drown it out, but doesn't know if Elijah would like that, he's reading something in Latin. Or maybe it's German. She takes a peek.

"What are you reading?" She asks, as lightning cracks.

"A Swedish legal document for someone I sired a few centuries ago." He tells her, and she looks at the writing on the paper.

"I'm to go make tea. Do you want anything?" She asks, deciding that maybe tea will make her sleepy.

"A cup of tea would be lovely, if it's not a bother." He says and she grins at him.

"Of course not." She answers, looking at her book one last time, before closing it. She leaves the room, and he hears something as she does. Music. He stops and listens to it.

* * *

It's a song about love, and wanting and Elena sings to it as he hears her move around, making tea. It loops again, and it reminds him of the rain. She changes the song when it ends a second time, to a slower one. It's perfect for the rain, he feels his mood change a little as he closes his eyes. He hears Elena moving, and the door opens.

"Elijah?" Her voice is soft, a whisper above the rain.

"I'm awake." He replies, and opens an eye.

"Good." She says, and she hands him a mug of tea.

She has her own, and she sets it down, carefully before she gets into the position she was in before she left. She sits up a little bit more, he notices. She blows on her tea before she picks it up again, and requests he tell her a story.

* * *

He never tells her stories unless she asks, and he wonders if she knows that he'd only tell her his stories and memories, his slightly too realistic to be tall tales and rememberings.

He takes a sip of tea, and tells her that he'll tell her about rain, when he was human. Her breath catches. He rarely talks of his time as a human, and she focuses to remember this story especially. He tells her of the times Rebekah would complain when it suddenly rained, flowers she was so fond of putting in her hair would wither, and he'd help her take them out. Sometimes Finn did it, trying his best to be patient with his younger siblings, Finn never had to try with Henrik.

He tells her of the many hunts he went on, how miserable it was when wet. When he pauses, she asks him what he looked like as a human.

He describes his hair, he knows that's what she's always noticed on him. He doesn't mention how his smile changed, or how odd it felt to be frozen in his body, to never look aged. He doesn't mention his eyes or how his feet appreciate modern shoes.

"I can't-I can't picture that." She admits and he gives her a genuine smile. If she was alive then, she would have charmed anyone she met. He wonders briefly, if she would have liked him as a human.

"I'm sure Niklaus has drawings of me somewhere. I'll ask him for one."

"So, Klaus has just-drawn you all throughout the centuries?" She asks, and he laughs at her tone.

"Yes. We were the subjects of many, long and arduous family portraits." He informs her. Finn always had to be added in, he remembers. The rain is slowing down, he notes, so he tells her stories of the portraits. At one point, they had all been together, he tells her. Hunters came in one day, mid portrait to his brother's displeasure. They had to listen to him complain about the blood splatters as he continued painting. Kol had sworn he had gone even slower after that, as punishment. Elijah didn't disagree.

"So, did he do one when you were all back together? That night with-" She trails off and he appreciates it. He doesn't know what to call Esther either. She drinks as he talks.

"Indeed. Everyone besides me had to change. Afterward, he took a picture and Kol and Rebekah complained for thirty minutes that a picture was much easier. I had to explain centuries of inventions to Finn, Kol, Rebekah and Esther that night. Klaus didn't help, claimed he was adding "finishing touches." He just didn't want to explain how microwaves work to Kol." He tells her and Elena smiles. The rain is stopped, and it's rather late, he notes. Elena yawns.

"Thank you." She says, taking a sip of her tea.

"You're welcome." He says, and she hasn't touched her book since she closed it, and her empty mug sits nearby it.

"Goodnight, Elijah." She says, she's too tired to move back to her bed, and Elijah has the lighting the way she likes it, and she sinks down, her head hits the pillow and she's out. She doesn't hear him wish her good dreams, but she does have a few drawings of Elijah throughout the centuries on her dresser when she goes to her room the next afternoon, copies he'll tell her later. Klaus didn't trust the original copies with the mail system.

* * *

She just smiles at them.


	6. ch 77

AN: I don't know where this went, tbh.

* * *

He's on her mind, actually, when her phone rings. It's only been a day since she's seen him again, but she's thought of him over the years, more frequently than she'd admit to. Her feelings about him hadn't been bottled up, but she hadn't displayed them either. If it happened, she had decided, it happened. If not, she would move on.

She answers the phone.

"Elena. I require your assistance." She hears him say, and she wonders what he could possibly need her help with.

"What is it?" She asks, already preparing to get her duffle bag of weapons from her closet.

"Nothing life threatening." He assures her quickly. She relaxes and takes a deep breath.

"So what is it?" She presses. She's expecting it to be serious, Elijah is almost always serious.

"I need your help with a masquerade ball." He says. A bubble of laughter spills past her lips and into the phone.

"That's it? Elijah, you had me worried. I thought it was something dangerous." She laughs, and he tells her that it is serious, just not quite as life and death as she's used to dealing with as his ally. She asks him to text her his address, she'll be over in a few minutes. He agrees, and before she hangs up, she asks if he has the kind of tea she likes, looking at her kettle wishfully.

* * *

He admits he doesn't, and she decides she'll take one of her boxes to his flat.

She knocks on his door, and he opens it. He's not wearing a tie, she notes, he's more casual in his own space. She asks if she can make tea, she hasn't had her afternoon tea yet. He agrees, and shows her to his kitchen. It's odd to her, and as they have a few minutes to wait for the water, he shows her his carefully chaotic bedroom. There are rows and rows of masks on his bed, and a few different ties, carefully displayed on his pillows.

She takes in the natural light and dark wood for a moment before refocusing.

"I need to blend in." He says and she lets out another laugh.

"You never blend in. I could be in a crowd a year from now and still pick you out." The words slip out before she has a chance to think about how he might take them.

"Really?" He seems amused rather than annoyed. He's got that damn smug look on his face.

"I must admit, I am relieved to know I'm not forgettable." He jokes and she rolls her eyes.

"The only way someone could forget you would be compulsion." She says, he gives off power and elegance. It radiates from him. He's too damn attractive to forget either, and the fact that he always wears a suit doesn't help his case.

She carefully selects a few different masks for him to try for her. Even the ones that cover up his face enough to make her look twice aren't enough camouflage. She has to make himself hold himself differently, and she can still tell. Maybe she's biased, but if he wants to blend in, he's going to need to change something.

"How do you feel about blonde hair?" She asks. The no is out of his lips before she can explain. She's sure he has magical contacts, changing his hair temporarily with magic would give it a nice touch. No one would recognize him then. He agrees, only if she does it to do the same and accompany him so he doesn't feel like a fool.

* * *

She ends up with darker hair, almost black, as she walks next to him in a dress Caroline picked out.

Elijah asks for her help several times after that.


	7. ch 79

She texts him, they keep in touch during her years at college. She graduates, and for a year, he doesn't hear from her very often, at all. Then, she texts him one day out of the blue. She wants to know if he can talk to her in a few minutes, a phone call. He agrees, he's alone in his apartment.

"Elijah." She greets, and he had almost forgotten how much he had missed her voice.

"Does your offer still stand?" She asks.

"Of course." He says, his voice may be calm, but he isn't. Elena is taking his offer, and he's thrilled. They coordinate times and dates, he'll be back in the states in two weeks. She sounds excited, and they talk for what seems barely any time at all before she swears and tells him they've been talking for hours. He's as surprised as she is. She yawns, and tells him she needs to sleep.

* * *

The next time he hears her yawn is on a private jet, next to him. He could have waited for her longer, he would have, he did promise always and forever to her, but he's glad it wasn't decades. Just a few years.


	8. ch 83

He watches as she calls Ric, she carefully packs a bag for Jeremy as she does. She apologizes, she's so sorry because it's a two hour time difference and it's even later there, and her words mash together when she forgets to breathe. The history teacher is awake at the sound of her panicked voice, and she apologizes because she thinks she's weak and Jeremy is dead and her voice is shaky and she couldn't protect him. But she adds that Jeremy had his ring and that they're going to stay with the Mikaelsons for a while. Elijah notes the teacher's temporary confusion before calling his family by their title, the Originals. He sighs and tells her that's fine. He still wants her to check in, and to be careful. She agrees and he tells her that it'll be okay. There are a few things they say after that don't make sense at first, but he takes it as their promise. He's heard her say it to Jeremy a few times. His family has the phrase of "always and forever". Elena's has "We'll get through this. All of us." It makes him want to think on it, but Elena hangs up, and he has to focus on her. She closes her eyes for a moment, and opens them, startled when she sees Kol.

"Most of the blood is gone. We'll send someone to get the rest of it in the morning." He says and she thanks him, a lump in her throat. He watches his brother as she does. Elijah fancies her, they're all fairly sure he's in love with her. They haven't mentioned it to him, of course he'd deny it-but they've started to accept her. She likes Elijah, it's just a matter of time in their minds. Most things were. They were vampires, the oldest in existence. They had nothing but time to wait.

Elena zips the bag for Jeremy after she adds a few things from their shared bathroom, and Kol extends his hand. He's offering to take it, and she gives it to him. Elijah hears his brother arrange the younger Gilbert in his car, his bag in the backseat with him.

"Thank you." Elena's voice is fragile.

"Of course." His voice is soft, exactly how she needs it to be. She puts her bag over her shoulder, he would have offered to take it, but she seems to take comfort in having it, so he doesn't.

She slips on a pair of flats before she opens the door. They're out of the house in a minute, and she shuts the door behind her. It locks automatically, and she sits in the passenger seat. Kol doesn't mind sitting in the backseat near his technically dead friend. He updates Rebekah on what's going on, he knows she'll tell Finn and Nik. Elena's duffel bag is in her lap the entire ride. Her arms are wrapped around it, Elijah briefly wonders if she's attached to it or if she just needs something to hold onto.

* * *

The few lights that are on when they arrive are soft, not too bright. It's almost 3AM according to his phone. Rebekah opens the door, and Kol carries Jeremy and his duffel bag. Elena shuts the car doors once he disappears out of sight.

They carefully walk up together, and Elena's hand is on the strap of her duffel bag as she enters the house first. She's not nervous about being there, he recognizes as he carefully shuts the door, it's concern and worry for Jeremy. He tells her that the two rooms between his room and Kol's are available for her and Jeremy. Her brother is in the room next to Kol, the room next to his is hers for the taking. She thanks him, and she wants to say things, she wants to cry, but she's in her pajamas and she needs a moment to think before she does. So she gracefully slips into the room, Elijah understands somehow, she knows. She carefully take off the flats as she thinks. Even though she didn't say anything, Elijah always seemed to know what she was thinking. She sits on the bed, the room reminds her of Elijah's, a comforting thought for some reason. She's not going to look into it. Not tonight. She holds her duffel bag close because it's a piece of home that's been hers since middle school. It's familiar, and she lets it out for a few moments. Her breaths are shallow little gasps, and she has to force air into her lungs when she can't breathe. It's a few more minutes before she calms down enough to think, she let Jeremy down, had he not worn his ring, he could have been dead. Like everyone else. For the first time since Ric had left, she had been glad he had been gone, it could have been both of them. She wonders why she was left alone. The thought makes her shudder, and she rummages through her bag to find a sweater, and her bear. It fits in one of the oversized pockets, and she takes her phone charger too, her battery is a little low and Elijah's never had a problem with her phone charging on his desk before.

She zips up her bag, and leaves her room with red eyes and a fragile heart. She knocks on his door, gently, she doesn't know if he's asleep or not. He answers the door and she notices his suit jacket is missing. His eyes are full of concern, she's sure he's noticed that hers are red.

"Can I just sit in here for a while?" She asks. He nods, and she plugs her phone in, and she looks taken aback for a moment. The couch she liked is gone. She looks to him for explanation.

"Kol was interested in what couches are made of. He took mine while I was busy yesterday, needless to say he has been reprimanded." He says and she frowns. It was one of her favorite pieces of furniture. She's not going to sit in his armchair.

So she sits on his bed, it's not the first time she's done it, but she sits on the side that looks more unused.

* * *

She spills out her thoughts as he takes off his cufflinks, she watches him set them where the rest are, he's listening. Even when he disappears into his closet for a moment. His tie is missing when he sits next to her, along with his watch. She leans into him as tears come out, and he wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer. She continues, and the delicate feelings that have been growing in her chest that she's tried to stop for the past few weeks threaten to break through her ribs as he holds her.

She's not going to admit them to him, not now, they're too breakable. She has an arm around his torso for the next span of time, she doesn't move until he tells her Jeremy's awake. He releases her and she sprints out of the room, and he quietly follows. He notices Kol standing outside his bedroom, watching them as well. She's clutching at her brother like he's been missing for a decade, and she takes gaspy little breaths, and he jokes that she's going to break his ribs, but he clings to her too. It reminds Elijah of how his siblings were when they were human. He had embraced and comforted Rebekah many times close to that. He tugs on Kol's sleeve, and they disappear to give the Gilberts privacy.

"I love you, brother." He hears Kol say, he's glad to know he's not the only one affected by the two humans in their house.

"I love you as well, Kol." He says, his family isn't too keen on sentiment these days, they know they love each other, it's why they're together-they say "always and forever" more than the actual words of "I love you". He makes a note to remind his other siblings, he hears Elena upstairs, she and Jeremy are coping. He doesn't know who attacked him, they'll investigate later. In a few hours after some sleep. Elena takes a deep breath as Jeremy yawns, and they say their words and then goodnight. He and Kol walk up the staircase, and Elena looks around for a moment before she sees them walk up.

* * *

Jeremy has disappeared to go take a shower, being covered in dried blood is not a pleasant feeling. She doesn't go to her room, like Elijah expects, just asks if she can sleep next to him. She's a little too worried to be in her own room, she's worried her thoughts will swallow her whole and he agrees to it. She wonders when the last time he told her no was. A little thread of hope is weaving itself into the growing feelings pushing at her ribs. And it's okay, she thinks, before she closes her eyes for a few hours. They'll get through it. All of them.


	9. ch 90

It's been a few minutes of silence, her nervous heartbeat is pounding too loudly, she knows Elijah can hear it, but she's sure she can too.

"Elijah?" She asks, carefully. Her eyes are peering into his, looking for answers he's not sure he can give.

"How long have you been thinking about it?" He's not sure if that's his voice, but he feels his lips moving. His mind is moving too quickly. This opens too many doors and paths of thinking for him to process for a moment.

"To be honest," She bites her lip in hesitation before continuing.

"Since Damon tried to shove his wrist in my face a few hours before Klaus killed me." She finishes. He can understand the Salvatore's want to immortalize her, to save her life. She hadn't wanted it. Or so he had thought.

"What are you thinking?" She asks. She wants to say, _please don't hate me for having to keep me human for so long._ Admittedly, in her years with him, there had been so many close calls where she had told him, over and over that she'd rather die human than wake up as a vampire. It was fear talking. He seems to be busy thinking, but he does ask when she changed her mind. She doesn't know the answer to that, she doesn't know when it had shifted, her world had slowly tipped over. She had just now fallen into the realization.

"Aren't you the hesitant to join us monsters?" He asks, his voice is detached and bordering on cold. She can't believe he remembered that, she had been dying and said something. He didn't have the context, and she hadn't given it. She needs to move quickly before all of his walls are up.

"I didn't mean you." She says and he looks neutral. She has to keep going, she can see him quickly closing himself off, he's never done this before.

"I didn't mean anyone but me. I thought if I turned then, that I'd be a monster. I thought I'd be a ripper or something and no one would be able to help me and I didn't want that. I will never want that." She explains.

He moves quickly, and she finds herself walking backwards. The walls he doesn't have around her are back down for the moment. When her back hits the wall, he speaks. His voice is rough.

"You thought I'd let you turn into something you despise? You thought I'd stand back and let you become a ripper?"

"I thought I'd dagger you again. I know where it is. It's with your ties. I thought I'd dagger you again and lose it."

"I wouldn't let that happen." He's so sure, it's not even arrogance, it makes her want to ask questions.

"I daggered you once." She reminds him.

"Years ago." He retorts, and they only have a few inches left between them.

"Why are you fighting me on this?" She asks, and he wants to laugh. She has been against turning since he met her. Her sudden change of heart strikes him as odd.

"Because you've always loathed the idea. What changed?" He presses. There goes an inch of space.

"I just spilled my guts, can we not play twenty questions?" She asks, she tries to move but can't.

"Why are you hiding your reason?" He presses again. She makes a frustrated noise.

"If I tell you, will you let me go after this?" She asks.

"Deal." He agrees.

"It's you. The reason is you." She says, and she expects him to move. She looks at him expectantly.

"Move." She demands, trying to push against him.

"What about me?" He wants to know.

"You didn't ask for details." She hisses. She's angry at him now.

"I thought you would give them." He says simply. She's moving against him. She needs to get out before he figures it out and she's utterly humiliated by his rejection.

"You didn't clarify, I owe you nothing, let me leave." Her words are cold and harsh and she doesn't want to hurt him, but spilling her secret will hurt both of them.

"Explain and you can go." He's demanding.

"I was in love with you when I said that." She hisses, she wants the words to come out in a whisper but her voice is too cruel, even to her ears. He moves away and she runs out of his house.

* * *

He doesn't see her for two weeks.

* * *

He's about to knock on her door when he hears her speak.

"I ruined it, Care. I ruined it. I ruined my friendship with Elijah." She says, and Caroline asks if he had rejected her. She tells her the wording she had used and Caroline gives one of those soft sighs she gives before sage advice.

"You were hurt and trying to protect yourself. You weren't trying to hurt him."

"But I did. He hates me, he has to." Her voice shakes a little and he accidentally leans against the doorbell. Fuck. He hears her hang up, promising to call Caroline back. She opens the door, and almost immediately wants to shut it.

* * *

"Elena." He's polite.

"I'm sorry." Spills out of her lips. He notes her red eyes.

"I can see I'm making you uncomfortable, I will take my leave." He says and she's about to shut the door.

"Elena." He says and she pauses, the door is open just a few inches.

"I loved you too." He still loves her, he just had to confess it. It's been stuck in his throat for years. Her breath catches.

"Loved? You-" She trails off. Of course. She had broken his heart. Two weeks was a nice start for him to begin getting over her. The handful of years they had been friends was just a blink in his long life.

"I still love you. I'm still in love with you." He admits, he needs to leave before he's any more exposed. He's about to walk away.

"Elijah, wait." She's using that tone, that she always managed to convince him with. He freezes.

"I love you too. I'm still in love with you too." She confesses. She finds herself being pressed against her front door, his lips are on hers.

* * *

When she opens her eyes in the morning, she knows they'll need to talk more, but as she stares at him, just a few inches away, she can't help the feeling of hope that's growing in her chest, that she might have him. She might even be able to keep him. Forever, literally. She grins at him when he yawns. She'll call Caroline back in a few hours.


	10. ch 101

AN: Angela, you didn't specify, so I came up with this.

* * *

Eventually, they have to let go, to her disappointment. She asks him to stay for the night, and he agrees easily. She goes through her nightly routine before she realizes she doesn't want Elijah in the guest bedroom he usually uses. She mentions it when she sees him in the hallway, and he follows her to her room. She just wants him to be close to her. And he is, hesitantly. His arms are wrapped around her, and she pulls her comforter up as his eyes close. They're safe, he's alive, it's all fine. It's perfect.


	11. ch 106

AN: Angela, stay safe, and you didn't specify what you wanted, so I'm giving you the morning after.

* * *

She wakes up, her skin touching someone else's. It takes her a moment to remember the night before and remember that she's in New Orleans. Elijah is sleeping, partially underneath her. She adjusts her position, and his eyes open. He gives her a sleepy grin. She leans down to kiss him, and he smiles into it. She's happy, and she can't remember ever wanting to be with someone forever so intensely before. She confesses this against her lips, and he tells her he wants forever with her as well.


End file.
